Former world snooker championship finalist Mark Selby was targeted by thieves who stole hundreds of pounds of electrical goods and his luxury sports car as he played in the UK Championships in Telford.

Selby, 26, and manager Mukesh Parmar returned to the town’s Holiday Inn, at St Quentin Gate, on Tuesday night after his win over Stephen Hendry to find that the player’s room had been burgled.

The thieves had forced their way through a window of the ground floor room and had snatched a laptop, an iPod, a sat nav system and the keys to Leicester star Selby’s C-class Mercedes, his first car and a gift to himself after breaking through to the big time.

The culprits then made off in the Mercedes which had been parked outside the hotel. Police today said the burglary happened sometime between 11am on Monday and 9.30pm on Tuesday.

Selby, who last night lost 9-3 to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals at Telford’s International Centre, said: “I had my car stolen and other stuff which wasn’t the best start for my game.

“We were over here at the venue when it got stolen so there’s nothing I can do now. The police have done everything they can.”

Chris Ammonds, of Telford police, today said: “Fortunately there is a lot of CCTV footage from the hotel and surrounding area, so that is being studied and we hope it will lead to the arrest of the thieves.”